


Untitled

by ganseys_mint_plant



Category: Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:03:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23538394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ganseys_mint_plant/pseuds/ganseys_mint_plant





	Untitled

The first time she saw him was outside the brothel she had spent the last three years trying to escape. He was going in, against his wishes, and she going out, against the wishes of the establishment. Their eyes didn't meet, her heart didn't drop when she heard his laugh, she wasn't overcome with how _clean _he smelled. It hardly counted as a first interaction. But she remembered how much he struggled against the gang of boys attempting to drag him inside for his first time-- and how much he laughed at the sport of it all. Two years prior, she had entered the building, kicking and fighting for her life. It had taken her all that time to make enough money to survive on the streets and for the opportunity to slip out the front door without the guards noticing. 

So she came away from that moment with contempt for Sebastian-- not the kind of love you would die for. That would come later.

* * *

Norzenya had underestimated how far money went in the real world. The first fifteen years of her life had kept her sheltered from the outside world and from how money worked. Food appeared on the table every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. New dresses appeared in the wardrobe every two weeks. There was never work to be done after school and etiquette lessons. 

The two years in the brothel had taught her about work, but not about money. She was never paid in cash-- just in meals and lodging. The coins she escaped with that day were stolen from patrons. Occasionally, someone would pass her an extra tip, usually to ensure she kept her mouth shut. Everything went straight into the loose floorboard under her mattress. For two years she saved, but that only lasted her two weeks on the streets. Her landlady wanted two months in advance, which took almost everything at once. For months, Nor slept on the floor of the room above the bakery, waking up at 5 am to the smell from the ovens below and an aching back. 

After three months of begging, Nor convinced the baker to give her a job, running errands in the market. It paid in bread and whatever coins she could skim off the money he gave her to buy ingredients. When she was done with work in the mornings, she would beg on the streets or slip her hands into the pockets of rich men. Pickpocketing became almost too easy. The first thing she bought was a mattress. After the mattress, a new dress and shoes. Now, if she bothered to clean up, she could wander around the richer side of town without arising suspicion. 

This is where she met Sebastian for the second time.

* * *

It was the same gang of boys as before. 

She recognized Sebastian instantly as the boy from the brothel. And that's all he was really-- a boy. She eyed him up as a mark. She could see the outline of a few coins in his pocket. It would be difficult to put herself in the middle of the group of them and get close enough to him. If she was good enough, she could also slip the pocketwatch out of the coat of the orange-haired boy beside him. It wasn't ideal, but if she could create enough chaos, it could be worth it. 

The boys were walking towards her, hugging tight to the side of the busy road. They seemed oblivious to the people and carriages around them. Collectively, they seemed to swarm around Sebastian, quietly crying for his attention. He seemed happy enough to give it to them, grinning widely. 

Nor turned her back to them, pretending to eye some vendor's goods. She waited til their voices came close enough and then quickly spun around, stepping straight into Sebastian's path. 

She fell into him, making sure not to brace for the impact. She had to be as shocked as he was, while still aiming one hand for the inside of his pants' pocket. Her left arm flew up and over, grabbing for the jacket of the boy with the orange hair, while her right arm, seemingly ready to hit the ground, quickly grabbed for the coins. She got both item just as Sebastian caught her. 

Now the entire street was watching-- she had caused enough chaos. 

When she had first gotten the dress, she had sewed hidden pockets into the seams of the skirt for this exact purpose. The items were gone, but the crowd's eyes were on the tableau they had created. Granted, the boys had not caught her as well as she might have hoped; half of her dress was soaking in the muddy street. She looked up at the boys with annoyance.

To steal successfully, you couldn't get caught. And if getting caught was the best way to steal, then you at least had to have a character. Before coming to the harbor city, Nor and her sisters would pass winter afternoons by putting on shows for their parents. It should have been no surprise to them, then, how their oldest would turn out-- a professional liar. 

"Get your hands off me!" Nor cried out. It seemed the most appropriate response for a young girl of upstanding moral character. 

Sebastian responded as any young man afraid of scandal might. He promptly let her go, dropping her into the mud. 

The cold ground, seeping through the fabric, hit her before anything else. There was no need for acting now.

She let out a small cry and tried to crawl to her feet. The amassed crowd was torn between laughs and avoiding eye contact with Nor. Sebastian began spewing apologies, trying to help her up. She pushed him away, but both of them lost their balance in process, falling back into the mud. The comedic irony was too great-- the crowd burst into laughs. 

This was too much chaos. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of gold-- a patrolman badge. She was fucked. She scrambled to her feet, pushing away help and fled for the alley. Fuck the character. Fuck those boys. 

The wet skirt was dragging her down but she knew this city better than anyone. She dodged major streets, slipping down alleys and through the green spaces that the mayor had been funneling tax money into. 

The third time she would see Sebastian would be seconds before he slammed her into the alleyway behind the bakery. 

"Did you think we wouldn't notice?" he asked, his forearm pressed up against her collarbone. 

"What are you--"

He held up the pocketwatch of the orange-haired boy and the myriad of other little treasures she had stolen that day. 

"How did you--"

"Everyone who lives on the main street has been robbed by a street rat like you before," he said.

"Are you--"

"I'm not going to tell--"

"Are you going to let me finish a question?" Nor asked, just as she successfully landed a kick to his shin. His arm dropped, and she tried to grab for the items. The pocketwatch alone would cover the next month's rent, but he was faster, stumbling back towards the other wall of the alley. 

"Give it back," she demanded, reaching for the knife she kept in her other pocket. It was still there; he had only managed to reach into one of them. She brandished it at him, but he didn't flinch. "You know it's not very becoming for a young man to reach into the pockets of a lady."

"You don't strike me as a lady." Nor took another stepped towards him, the knife still outstretched. "And I didn't reach; they fell out."

That certainly made more sense to her. She liked to think she was good. 

"You need deeper pockets," Sebastian smiled.

"As do you."

"That is a fair point," he said. His expression became more stern. "Drop the knife." 

"Give me my stuff."

"I will give you back everything that isn't mine," he said, "if you drop the knife."

Nor put her hand out, expectantly, while pulling back the knife. Sebastian promptly dropped the things into her hands. She tucked everything back into her pockets, never taking her eyes off him. 

"I'm Sebastian," he said, smiling at her, like that made things better. 

Nor frowned, and dashed for the door at the end of the alleyway, slamming it shut behind her. 


End file.
